Frank Solich learned a lesson during the course of a coaching career that stretches back to 1966.
It’s a lesson the 72-year-old coach will take into Friday’s Mid-American Conference championship game at Detroit's Ford Field when his Ohio squad (8-4, 6-2) tries to knock off No. 17 Western Michigan (12-0, 8-0). It might be a lesson other FBS programs looking for consistent success should follow.
"I learned a long time ago in this business that you better be businesslike,” Solich said on the MAC teleconference this week. “You can try to be humorous and try to be funny and try to do different things in terms of motivating your football team, and there are coaches who do a great job of that, but you better be yourself."
Solich — who took over at Ohio in 2005 — is the longest-tenured coach in the Group of 5. He’s tied for fourth among FBS coaches with Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham. The only coaches who have been at their current school longer are Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops (1999), Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (1999) and TCU’s Gary Patterson (2001).
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He has also had unprecedented success at a program that won its last MAC championship in 1968.
After '68, the program had just one season with eight or more wins over the next 37 years. That was under Jim Grobe in 1997, a coach who left a blueprint for success.
While Grobe was building success at Ohio, Solich was succeeding Tom Osborne at Nebraska. He is best known for leading the Huskers to the 2002 Rose Bowl before losing to Miami. Solich coached six seasons at Nebraska and compiled a 58-19 record before being fired.
Solich then took over at Ohio and gave the program stability. He has produced seven seasons with eight or more wins and seven bowl games. That might not mean much to a Power 5 school, but linebacker Quentin Poling was attracted to that success during the recruiting process.
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“My senior year of high school was the year they started 6-0 or 7-0 (in 2012) and broke into the rankings,” Poling said. “That was great to see. I was there my senior year and watched them win the Independence Bowl. That was a huge thing to watch and brag about being able to go there."
Offensive tackle Troy Watson repeated what Solich said a few minutes earlier.
"Coach Solich has always been a businesslike guy,” Watson said. “He’s instilled that in his players to kind of go about it as business as usual and treat the next guy up as if he was the starter all along.”
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That attitude has helped with the quarterbacks this year. J.D. Sprague left the program in August. Greg Windham, who is questionable for Friday, missed time with a leg injury. Quinton Maxwell is the Bobcats’ third quarterback this season.
Ohio weathered all that to win its third MAC East title under Solich. The Bobcats lost to Central Michigan in 2009 and Northern Illinois in 2011 in the MAC title game. Taking out Western Michigan will be the toughest of those three challenges, but that won’t change the approach under Solich.
"We're able to attract players from around the country as well as special players from around Ohio,” Solich said. “Ohio is a great football state. We have a chance to recruit really talented guys. You don't win without talent on the football field, but our coaches have done a good job with Xs and Os."
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Solich is all business as usual, even if he admits that this year’s group forced him to have more fun than usual. He says that with a chuckle, one that comes from all that experience.
Yet it’s Poling who says what Solich has done with all those lessons, and it’s the thing every coach wants to hear.
"We have established a winning tradition since Coach Solich has been here,” Poling said.
